Lily - Feb 6, 2012This morning we called the DNR for clarification of our permit restriction on den visits. We received an email this afternoon stating that den visits were permitted “once per calendar week.” We plan to fix the positioning of Jewel’s Den Cam tomorrow.
Below is another in the series of notes from Sue’s 2005 walks with June and her cubs.
Thank you for all you do.
—Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield, Biologists, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center
Date: June 6, 2005
Bear visits to the various feeding stations have been rare lately. Many of our bears are in remote areas and have not visited the feeding stations for days. So much for the theory that bears ‘prefer the easy handout’ or that fed bears ‘forget how to forage naturally’. Much of the vegetation bears rely on in the spring is now past the succulent, easily digestible stage and wild foods will remain scarce until the berries ripen. I have found at least 2 of our bears feeding on unripe American fly honeysuckle berries already. These berries will be the first to ripen in this area.
My self-appointed task for today was to find out what has been keeping June over 3 miles from the feeding station she most often visits. After radio-locating our 8 study bears (4-year-old Hazel has slipped her collar – thus there are now 8) I walked in on June and her cubs about 11:30 AM. I found them at the edge of a clear-cut with the cubs up a cedar tree. The cubs quickly came down and June nursed them. As usual the cub with the lighter face commandeered the 4 chest teats leaving the other cub the 2 abdominal ones. When this latter cub moved to the chest nipples a fight ensued between them. June leapt up, the fight quickly ended and nursing resumed.
June then set about foraging in the nearby clear-cut. I found she was mainly feeding on peavine and ant pupae. Ant pupae are pretty scarce due to the cold, wet spring we have had. Sometimes June would open up a log then walk away and her cubs would take it over while she moved on to the next. Once a brief fight ensued between June and one of the cubs over one choice batch of ant pupae – one feisty little cub!
June strips cedar - June 6, 2005As we moved into a forested area she spent a lot of time playing with the cubs – chasing them around, up trees, etc. She seemed to want to enlist me in the play as well but her form of ‘play’ is too rough for me! One cub climbed a sapling balsam fir tree. June followed him up and hung on with only her teeth and forelimbs to bend the tree down. She then lost her grip and the tree sprang back up with the cub still in it. She climbed again and succeeded in dislodging the cub and breaking down the balsam. The cub immediately climbed a nearby balsam and she followed to repeat the procedure.
At one point she stripped bark from a cedar tree – about a foot wide and a good 12+ feet high. She proceeded to lick sap from the bare wood. She expended a good deal of energy trying to dislodge the hanging strips of bark. Finally managing to break a section off, she shook it much as a dog would shake a rag. One of her cubs also licked the tree and bit the trunk. I had witnessed cedar bark-stripping behavior earlier, but this was more extensive and in a good open location so I was able to document it with video.
As June moved through her territory she did considerable marking – both by back-rubbing trees and by dribbling urine and straddling saplings or stomping her feet to create depressions.
June grooms - June 6, 2005At one point I briefly lost her and was surprised to find her in a deep swamp. The area had been flooded by beaver and there was no dry ground within this swamp. Her cubs were up twin cedars in the middle and they were not happy! June was moving from tree to tree and having to swim at times due to the water depth. June’s cubs remained in the cedars for 2.5 hours. June roamed around (with me in tow) during this time – returning to her cubs on numerous occasions in an effort to coax them down. They were having none of it. She fed some on jewelweed but mostly she just roamed – always circling back to check on the cubs. She would wade out to them, climb up to one cub, then reach over and bite a branch on the other cub’s tree. When she had pulled it close enough she would leap to the second tree and check on the second cub. Then she would come back to the edge and roam some more.
She finally settled down to groom. Her grooming session was interrupted by the distinctive ‘claws on bark’ of her cubs moving in the trees. She headed out to them and her cubs began to come down. She tried to lead them out but they were hesitant to follow and started back up the tree. She went after them and pulled them down. One cub swam behind her – squalling all the way – as she waded out of the swamp. The other cub panicked but finally swam after them, bawling loudly. June nursed them briefly then led them back to the clear-cut where they foraged on peavine and ant pupae.
Of Note:
- The cub with the lighter face cuffed my pant leg from behind today – first contact he has initiated (He earned the name ‘Sneaky Pete’ from this encounter.). While not overly skittish around me, this cub is the one most apt to huff and swat at me. The other cub has approached me several times and seems very comfortable with my presence (This cub earned the name ‘Curious George’ from his interest in me and his penchant for exploring on his own.).
- The darker-faced cub (George) made chumming sounds while feeding on peavine – the larger leafed variety.
- Took a good swat from June today. We were in a clear-cut when her cubs started to squall a bit. They were behind us nearer to the edge of the clear-cut. She whipped around looking concerned in their direction. I moved to get out of her way but I misjudged and actually moved into her way. Took a hard swat to my left thigh. Red welts and slightly broken skin in a few places (well-bruised 2 days later). She swatted towards me again later in the walk but did not make contact. I had been thinking earlier how exceedingly calm she was today.